FOCUS ON MAY 2018

JOE SLOANE

Having seen the name Sloane's of Joe Sloane recurring in the new generation restaurants and 5 star hotels we visited; it felt appropriate to meet the man. After studying catering at University College Suffolk, Joe trained under Chef Albert Roux in London, England. He then honed his nose to tail butchery skills, cutting whole carcasses while he was a young chef working with Master Chef Herbet Herger in Austria.

When he first arrived in Thailand in 2007, he became Chef de Cuisine at The Rib Room & Bar at The Landmark Bangkok where his significant contribution to their menu was his signature Beef Wellington. “Since leaving The Landmark, I have worked as a private chef, culinary tutor and have built up a following amongst the expatriate and local community in Bangkok for my home-made gourmet sausages, dry-cured bacon and charcuterie”, says Joe. Currently, a larger range of products are available that includes fresh pork, chicken, cured beef items; they also sell artisan cheese made from four different small cheese producers across the country.

Joe's first mission was to create the perfect Cumberland sausage, one continuous rope-like coil typically filled with coarsely chopped pork and black pepper. The filling is mostly shoulder with between 20-25% back subject to the fat content. The aim was to recreate the iconic Bangers and Mash he used to serve at 1 Lombard Street, a renowned restaurant in a former bank building in the City of London.

The original plan for the artisan butcher was to be at Quince; however, the business model did not work so he told them at the former farmer's on the terrace of the original Bo.lan. He built his artisanal butchery from that partnership. Joe works closely with select free range pig farmers; one in Ratchaburi, Chiang Rai and Sisiket. He only buys what he calls “happy pigs”. “It's a big thing for me when working with the farms”, he says, “the pigs must be treated in a humane way, living in a big, clean area and given organic feed. And one of the nice things with small farms is that they are very transparent about how they raise their animals. The big farms won't tell you anything”.

“When buying ground or minced British style sausages look at the marbling of the fat”, he says. “It should have a good mix of fat through the meat and have a nice amount of herbs showing. Ideally a sausage should be cooked to about 70C, be careful not to overcook as they will start to lose their moistness. Sausages can be grilled, sauteed or baked in an oven, but the real trick to cook them to perfection is to do it slowly”.

Their production facilities has moved to a new factory out in Bang Phlii, it's too far out of town for a sustainable artisanal butcher shop or to make retail deliveries. The full range of Sloane's artisanal sausages, BBQ items, sauces, pate and terrines are available in 12 Villa Markets in Bangkok as well as their branches in Hua Hin and Phuket. Sloane's products are also sold at Gourmet Market, Tops, Central Food Hall, Rimping and some branches of Makro; additionally, they work closely with Passion Delivery who takes care of their home delivery sales and has the largest range through them.